Starts of the Week + Week 17 Breakdown, RAIN Alert! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 12/26

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Welcome in. It's still football time. Always. Forever. It's football week. I'm exhausted. They wanted Christmas too, huh? They had to have Christmas. And the day after. Well, they. The day after the day after that. They got it. And we all lost. Well, and, you know, we're here. We're here. It's championship week.

It's Christmas week. It's going to be an uphill climb. For, yeah, yeah. For Al Borland, which I am. You know. No, for me. For me. Yeah. It's a downhill jaunt. It went very poorly for me on Christmas Day because the Texans offense gave the Saints a run for their money on the most inept. Couldn't block. Couldn't escape the pocket. Couldn't play call. Couldn't catch the football. When they finally did. Couldn't hit easy passes. That's what I was going to say. The part that was the most annoying was that when they occasionally put a protection together for CJ Stroud, that allowed him to step up into the pocket and make a pass.

He was really inaccurate. He had out routes to Nico Collins. He had plays that he could have easily moved the ball down the field. It was a blowout. And there was a chance that it wasn't going to be a blowout until the Baltimore Ravens shut down a first and goal. It was very good for Al Borland. Al Borland already talking crap this morning. He simultaneously doesn't want to jinx. He would never. He doesn't want to jinx his performance. And yet he has slipped in some one-liners talking crap, which is good because when these two guys deceived me last year, moment of the year, Josh's deception with the sidekick, Batman and Robin.

When that happened, it looked like you guys screwed me. And then it ended up with me on top. So I'm just saying Christmas Day looks like you've got the big advantage. You've got a 20-point favorite now. Nothing can go wrong. I'm impressed right now with your storytelling and your bravado given the fact that you're standing in a hole right now. Oh, I'm standing in a big hole. And it's starting to fill with water. You ever seen a Hallmark movie? Those things suck. Yeah, you're going to cry? You're going to cry? Well, I mean, we'll see. They're always nonsensical. Yeah, I mean, but it all comes together in the end.

The script doesn't matter. It just works out. But for who? Because it might just be working out real nice for the underdog who's never won a championship in the league before. Yeah, I mean, of all the people, it's the make-a-wish that I'm fine. I'm fine with Al Borland getting one. Go, Al. Thank you, Mike. And I don't expect him to act like he's been there before because, well. Oh, I won't. Because he hasn't. Yeah. But the summary of the Christmas games was that the Chiefs just demolished and manhandled the Steelers. Xavier Worthy, eight for 79 and a touchdown, nine more targets.

Travis Kelsey, a week too late. Had he done this last week, Mike, you would not be in the Dynasty title game. No, I would not. And this was like, it's like the Steelers game planned. And they were like, yeah, Travis Kelsey is not a thing anymore. He's washed. Like, but if you leave him wide open in the middle of the field, that's how he got everything done in the past. Like, we, for years, would scream at the television, how is Travis Kelsey left so wide open? And then the last, what, year and a half, teams have been like, maybe we should not do that.

And he's been shut down. And then the Steelers are like, nah. What can he do? 3-20-3 for Mahomes, who did whatever he wanted to do. In the Ravens game, 31-2, the Ravens on top. Lamar Jackson only passed for 168 yards, only completed 10 passes. So if you look at the target share for someone like Zay Flowers, five targets on 15 attempts, that's a juicy 33% of your targets. However, they didn't need to throw the football. And his touchdowns, play action. 48-yard rushing touchdown. Yeah, I was going to say, he only had four carries in the whole game. Lamar Jackson, if you said he only threw 10 completions and carried the ball four times,

you'd say, well, that was a bad game. Except he ended up with 87 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown, and two passing touchdowns. Great game for Lamar Jackson. And Derrick Henry was a monster. Yeah, and the lack of competitiveness in this game is what slowed Henry down from continuing his assault. Because the Texans, they were shut out on offense. They had one safety. That was it. They were shut out otherwise. Mixon, nine for 26. Not a lot of opportunity when first downs are not on the board. Dalton Schultz his way right out of my start of the week. Because he looked even slower.

CJ Stroud looked awful. Yeah. And Baltimore made them look dumb. And they clearly needed more receiving options than John Mechie. So, that was the game. Mark Andrews got into the end zone again. And had a huge catch and run on top of the touchdown. His line is great because he's two for 68 and a touchdown. He had a long of 67. It wasn't the touchdown. So, that was your Christmas Day games. Did you guys have a nice Christmas? Yeah. I think I had a very, very nice Christmas. One to remember. And honestly, I liked Christmas football as well. It was a good time.

Well, you're going to get it forever. From here until the end of eternity. So, they tried to make the football cake thing. Oh, man. That was so... Whoops. The football cake for both of the Netflix games. And then they wouldn't eat it. Well, I think Mahomes and Kelsey did. Yeah, they did. But then Henry and Lamar were both like, no. They're like, look at us. Yeah. We don't eat cake. I think Al Borland might have had a slice, though. I did. Yeah, he enjoyed. How are you doing? Is the blood pressure like you? You were getting alerts on your watch and your health devices.

Not a joke. That's real life. Did you... Yeah, I think the vitals have come back to baseline for now. Yeah. Maybe slightly elevated still. I believe the latest projection had it 67-33. How do you feel about that? Do you feel... I'm saying 67% for him, 33%. 67%, 33% for me now that I've... I've got three duds on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas to you. Thank you. Yeah, I mean, anything could happen. I'm not counting any chickens, but I'm happy to be sitting where I'm at. And you don't have anybody tonight, right? I do not. Just for the sake of anticipation, Al's got all of his players done on Sunday.

I'll have all my players done except for one. So there's a chance we go into Monday Night Football. If there's... Like, I asked him. Jameer Gibbs is who I have on Monday Night Football. Oh, man. So I asked him, how many points... Oh, man. How many points do you need to feel like you can live on Monday Night? I told him 45. I don't blame you because... 30. There are very few players. Like, it's like Jamar Chase, where you think... Or an Alvin Kamara. You go, there's a chance for a 45-point game. Yeah. It's like, it's probably not going to happen.

But there's a chance. So until you're up 50, you will be scared. His question was, how many points for you to feel safe? And 45 is the only number that I felt I would feel safe. So the odds of you going stress-free into Monday Night are probably kind of low. So that should be fun. We've got news to talk about. We've got all the match-ups to get into. Lots going on. And let's get right into it. News and notes from around the league. Presented by USAA Insurance. Well, for a running back named Ken Walker, he does a lot of limping.

He's been ruled out. Ankle injury. Third injury of the year for Walker. Maybe fourth, really. Soggy newspaper. Do you think they just, it's because he needs one? A Walker? Yeah, like his name's sake. Oh, I see. Yeah, this is Ken Brittle Bones Walker. Get my man some milk and get this dude in the yoga room. Because he needs to stretch these ligaments out. James Conner has been limited Tuesday and Wednesday. Both days. Wild. There is a chance. He goes into the matchup this week without an injury designation. There's a possibility of that. And if that happens, you should expect him to be out there and pushing towards career highs in rushing yardage.

And there you go. Now, you have the decision of Jalen McMillan versus James Conner. James Conner is Saturday. So, you will know. And you'll have to make that decision. You'll know if he's active or not. Are you going to start an injured Conner if he's active? If he is without an injury designation, yes. He's over 20 fantasy points, three straight games. Also, maybe not. All right. Cool. Thank you. The foot cleanse very helped. You're setting up a decision I plan to make Saturday on Thursday. I'm not going to make the decision today. All right. We'll see what it looks like on Saturday.

I waited and did not play Xavier Worthy in that spot because I wanted the opportunity to see if Conner was going to play. Oopsie doozles. I wish I had played Worthy, who scored more points than Joe Mixon, Nico Collins, and Zay Flowers combined. Ooh. And it's also – That hurts. Yeah. It's worth pointing out and remembering because a lot of people – this is going to be one of those names, I think, going into next year that the people who didn't make the playoffs or didn't pay attention later on, Xavier Worthy's having a little bit of a breakout here. I mean, that's three impactful games in a row.

And he's on the field all the time. Versatile using him in the screen game and the end-around. Every game he gets one of those old-school – oh, gosh, Percy Harvin-style end-around. It's part of the offense. Jalen Hurst did not practice. Questionable for this weekend if you survived somehow. Yeah. Which most of you didn't. Anthony Richardson dealing with a back and foot injury. Malik Nabors will talk about those games today. Let's go Drake London. Limited on Wednesday with a knee injury. He's Sunday night football. Chris Olave returned to a full practice on Wednesday. Alvin Kamara did not practice. What are we doing here, Saints?

There's also the – I mean, Darren Rizzi said Rattler will start if Carr can't play. Which insinuates that they're still wanting Carr to come back. And I would imagine that when Carr comes back might be when Olave comes back. I mean, if it was me as like a coach or an organization, I don't really need Olave trying to like lift up Spencer Rattler and be getting a bunch of murder balls. Not that their car doesn't throw his own. Aaron Rodgers says he will play Sunday despite dealing with an MCL injury. Both he and Devontae Adams were limited in practice. Okay.

That was today's news and notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at usaa.com slash insurance. We've got starts of the week. We've got weather to talk about too. Oh, a little bit of rain. A lot of bit of rain. A lot of bit decisions to be made. Starts of the week. Well, quarterback, start of the week. I'm going Brock Purdy against Detroit. If for some reason you're not living with one of the best guys at the quarterback position, highest over-under of the week. I think Brock Purdy will be able to do enough against the Detroit defense. 202 is kind of the target line there.

I think he'll go above that. I'm going to go Purdy. I'm going to go Baker Mayfield championship week against the Carolina Panthers. Laser. Laser Mayfield has been. I mean, he's the quarterback six right now in the course of the year. He had a lull when he was dealing with his injuries and Mike Evans' injuries, but he's back. He was great last week. Carolina's defense is 30th in schedule-adjusted fantasy points to quarterbacks. They're dead last in fantasy points per drop back using zone coverage. I think this is a great matchup for Baker. And the nice thing is, with Bryce Young playing better ball, you might actually need Baker to keep throwing as the game goes on.

And that's the hope. Yeah, and if I'm a big underdog on Saturday, this is why McMillan would be attractive. Because maybe you catch lightning in a bottle and you get the two-touchdown game from McMillan. It's not something we haven't seen. Two weeks ago, he did it. That would be the case, the bull case for it. My quarterback star of the week, I think it's Bo Nix. Oh. Against Cincinnati. Maybe not, though. Everything. Well, here's the thing. Here's the case for him. QB10. Must-win game. We went over, you know, the teams who have to win right now. It's a 49.5 point over-under right now.

That is juicy. It's one of the highest of the week. He's got the... It's still at 49.5? Kyle, go ahead and check that for me. I would like to know. This is what... That is correct. This is one of the weather games. Yes. That's why there's hesitation. Yes, I think. So, I'm making the case for him. Look, Cincinnati's defense, this is a team you want to play against. 28th in schedule-adjusted points to the quarterback. 26th in passing yards allowed. It's still at 49.5. This is... Like, before Christmas Day, when I checked some weather, I was like, I am so excited for this matchup.

But, this is one that you have to keep an eye on, that there are some meteorologists out there who are like, they believe rain is likely, potential a lot of rain for this game. So, this is a... And, more importantly, 20 to 30 mile an hour wind gusts. This is a... Keep an eye on... Obviously, look, we're Thursday. By the time we get to game time for this, it may be completely different. As one who has been and experienced the weather that is Denver, that crap can come out of nowhere. Like... Was that where your concert was? Yeah, I was at a concert in Denver, and all of a sudden, they're like,

everyone needs to seek shelter right now. You're like, what are you talking about? You look up, it's fine. But then you look over the horizon, you go, oh, no. Right! Like, that's a storm over there. And then as soon as... As quick as it came, it was just gone. So, mountain weather is crazy. I think it's Bo Nix. But... Like, I would... If weather's good here, would love to play Bo Nix. Well, the other side of that matchup is Joe Burrow. So, there's a lot of people hanging on the... I mean, Mike is already feeling it. Dude. It's going to permeate his anxious pores.

And it's funny here, too, because in the Dynasty League, where you're trying to go back to that championship, you've got Burrow and Chase. However, in Listener League, where Andy's in the championship, he's playing against Burrow and Chase. So, one of you is going to be happy about the weather. Yeah, in the League of Record, I have Chase and no Burrow. So, I'm right in the middle there, where it's like, uh... Can I thread the needle? All right, Bucky Irving is my running back start of the week against Carolina. Once again, looked unbelievable out there last week. He has surpassed James Conner in the most broken tackles.

He is... You know... He's good. His special ingredient is acceleration after he makes a move. He gets up to speed so fast. He's breaking tackles because he's running extremely fast through these holes, and the arm tackles are not bringing him down. He's kind of reminding me of, you know, when Thomas Rawls, the Rawls-Royce, had a moment in time in Seattle where once he got up to speed, it was just kind of a ferocity to his running game. This is an amazing matchup. He was the RB1 overall against these Panthers in Week 13. It's a must-win game for the Buccaneers to stay alive,

to try to win the division. They're not the division winners right now. Carolina? Dead last. You know, James Conner in two and a half quarters gave you a 25-point game last week against Carolina. Bucky Irving, you know, he'd be the reason that Baker doesn't have a good game. If Bucky Irving has such an explosive performance, he's my start of the week going into title game. Yeah, I would love to have Bucky in my lineup. I'm going to go with my guy, Brees Hall in Buffalo. We have a complicated relationship. Brees likes to put me out of the playoffs, and then it's his time to shine, you know?

And so he did that last week. Last week he was back up to 77% of snaps, 20 opportunities including six targets, and the targets are really the key here because Buffalo, they are the most terrible team at pass-catching running backs. They give up the most running back receiving yards of every team, second most running back receptions, and receiving touchdowns allowed. They give up the highest explosive run rate. Buffalo, the matchup is good. The weather should be bad there. That should be another one of those kind of watch out for rain games, which means I think there will be a lot of dump-offs for Brees Hall.

In the games where the rain is heavy and wind is high, running back fantasy usage and value usually goes up. So I will start Brees this week. Andy's got Bucky Irving, but that's not going to scare me off of Rashad White, who has actually been fantastic right along with Bucky Irving. It's wild. The fact that we are getting such high-level play, such high-level fantasy production from two running backs in the same backfield. It's a little bit of Montgomery Gibbs life. Yes. Very, very much. Since week seven, he's right behind Bucky in fantasy points per game. We're talking Bucky's at just over 15,

and Rashad White's at about 14 and a half. Andy laid out everything of you can attack this team, but it is simply both of these guys are getting substantial work, and both of them are playing extremely well, and the matchup is fabulous. And still alive, the Miami Dolphins. I'm going to go with Tyreek Hill at wide receiver against Cleveland. Don't overthink this. Play Tyreek. He is... Unless there's terrible weather. That's another... Unless there's terrible... Well, I mean, Tyreek, they can get him the ball in short area space too, but he's a great road wide receiver. They're going into Cleveland. They're six-and-a-half-point road favorites,